Duality is layered heavily within the teaching of the Tao. You want light, you must accept heavy. You want joy, you must accept sadness. You want pizza, you must accept calzones.
Alright, I don’t know about that last one, but you get the point.
Gravity is the root of lightness,
Stillness is the master of passion.
TTC – Chp. 26 (Addiss & Lombardo)
We can have all these things, I can experience epiphany and ecstatic love, but I must be willing to accept the fullness of the the other side of that coin, which seems to be great confusion and lonliness.
I have felt burdened and heavy the past two days, and it came right after a day in which I felt the full sunlight of the spirit. I felt like, insight after insight came to me without effort and all of existence made sense.
The next morning (yesterday) was misery. I had lost it all and could barely figure out how to put my shoes on, or why I should put them on for that matter.
And, so I am left with the Tao Te Ching, staring me in the face with it’s lesson’s of the sage.
The Sage travels all day, But does not leave the baggage-cart.
When surrounded by magnificent scenery remains calm and still.
TTC – Chp. 26 (Addiss & Lombardo)
At first I didn’t know what to make of this passage, but as I sat with my own insanity in the context of feeling enlightened, and then like a brick covered in shit with legs, I realized this was the lesson.
You want lightness, well get ready for that heavy-ass yoke. Gravity exists in this way. You want passion, learn to tame it with stillness.
The same passion that speaks love and light into people can turn into hate and distrust if not tempered.
The Sage does not leave the baggage cart- meaning they are not moved by the goings on of all that is happening around them. Even when there is something magnificent, they remain calm. Because to lose the center even in the direction of what feels amazing is to open ones self to that which feels terrible.
The Sage knows their requirement is to being the stillness and peace of something other than what is outside of them. To get caught up in the shiny, glittering things is not the job of a Sage or anyone that would like to be a channel of peace.
We can not channel peace as we fly off at any fancy thing. We must not become slaves to our own thoughts.
Which is why I find the next few lines fascinating, because they speak to exactly that.
When a lord of ten thousand chariots behaves lightly in this world,
Lightness loses its root, Passion loses its master.
TTC – Chp. 26 (Addiss & Lombardo)
If you have such heavy responsibility, say as to that of being in charge of ten thousand chariots, running off at a whim to do something frivolous leaves many in danger.
Knowing the responsibility of gravity we must remain centered. In the center all is available, yet we guard against being crushed by heaviness and floating off with lightness.
It is not a demand of anyone to live in this way. However, when I feel the heaviness that comes after such an enlightening time, I wonder if it is worth being thrown so far off course. Would remaining in the middle not be the wiser choice? And if not for wisdom, why else am I studying 2500 + year old texts?
Duality, is a reality, whether we like it or not. Take the lesson or be lost to it. Either way we are dealing with two sides of the same coin.
Therefore, Tao is great, and heaven, and earth, and humans. Four great things in the world aren’t humans one of them?
TTC- chp. 25 (Addiss & Lombardo)
There are four great things, Tao followed by Heaven, followed by Earth, followed by humans. Humans are sovereign and follow Earth. Earth follows heaven, heaven follows Tao, Tao follows its own nature – All in All.
As above so below. Macro to micro.
All life, all creation moves in accordance with the Tao. All things create all things.
I create this writing and in so doing this writing is creating me. This is a welcome expression of all things appearing together simultaneously, not as a result of one another.
A wave does not result from the ocean, it happens in creation with the ocean. When I can begin to understand what the Tao Te Ching, is saying over and over again is that all things are in relational correspondence with one another.
If the bee did not exist the flower would not exist. If the sun did not exist we would not exist, but it is also vice versa. The sun exist because we exist. Heaven exists because earth exist. Earth exist because humans exist. And so on and so forth.
It is the model described by The Holographic Universe theory. Where in each thing is an infinite version of that thing happening at every level. If you divide nothing by nothing you get nothing. If you divide everything by everything you get everything.
A Holograph is a “whole” large image created by an infinite number of tiny “whole” images. Each little image is the exact copy of the large image.
The Tao Te Ching is, in its own way, describing this feature of the Holographic Universe Theory.
What does this mean, you may be asking.
Here is what it means. Time and space are creations of our imagination. We are existing at all times in the Eternal moment, where all realities are playing out on an infinite stage. We have a thought of a future we want, it is already taking place the moment we think it in to existence. The only thing keeping it from manifesting in this reality is our continued focus upon it.
Here is what it means. Time and space are creations of our imagination. We are existing at all times in the “Eternal Moment”, where all realities are playing out on an infinite stage.
-MWW-
It’s like sailing. You decide you want to go to an island that you know is out there. However, on your voyage you are hit with every obstacle imaginable and instead of getting to the island you end up on another island. Now, the first island still exists, but our focus upon it has been lost do to distractions. If we want to make it to the first Island we must forget the distractions and get back on course.
Think Homer’s “The Odyssey”
Because the Tao exists, humans exists, and because humans exists, the Earth exists, and there is no end to this cycle. The way of all things is to emerge simaltaneously.
It is the same reason why when you have a great idea, all the ways that idea is stupid also appear. These things all exist together.
When I think, I want to be a writer all the ways in which I think I don’t understand writing exists.
When looking into going back to school, I see so many different options for schools along with every reason why school is a waste of time.
When I think about going for a walk, at that same time, all the reasons why going for a walk is hard, pop up.
This is the way of things. They all exists in simultaneous relationship with one another.
If we want to have money, that exists in the same realm of being broke.
If we want to be in great shape that exists in the same realm of being out of shape.
There is no end to this.
It is in this natural relationship that practicing being one with the Tao comes into play. “We must do nothing and let our dust settle, so that action arises naturally.” (TTC)
Alan Watt’s put this a wonderful way by saying, “If you are going to take on the devil tomorrow you better not let him know your plans today, best to just allow it to happen naturally.”
We can’t hit the target that knows all of our moves. Pre meditation keeps us from our target. Allowing for the target to be hit when I am not trying to hit the target is the way of the Tao.
Ok, This is simple stuff for simple people. If you don’t understand it, it’s probably because you are a moron.
Happy Day.
Something unformed and complete, Before heaven and earth were born,
Solitary and silent, Stands alone and unchanging, Pervading all things without limit.
I hurt my knee every time I jumped, but it was worth the experience, and my kids thought it was hilarious and great.
Those who are on tiptoes cannot stand.
Those who straddle cannot walk.
Those who flaunt themselves are not clear.”
TTC- chp. 24 (Derek Lin)
The opposite of humility is arrogance and the Tao Te Ching does not mince words about living arrogantly.
I have lived a life of trying to find a way to only stand on my tip toes so that I can be taller and seem bigger than I was created.
In highschoool I tried to be recruited to play football in college, and I literally put lifts in my shoes and would be on my toes when meeting new coaches.
I had a clear fear of not being accepted at my current height and thinking my stature would keep me from being over looked, because my play was obviously so good.
Well, the truth is, I wasn’t that good regardless of height or size, but I didn’t want to believe that.
My arrogance and presumption of ability, I did not possess, caused me a lot of pain and still can if I’m not careful.
Walking on tip toes may get me on the ride, but there is a height limit for a reason and that reason is usually safety.
As is with arrogance, pretending to be something I am not, I put myself in a dangerous position, and while I may make it for a while, eventually probability catches up and I get what I get. The Tao Te Ching is expressing this.
My favorite way of defining humility is, “when the idea of myself and the reality of myself match up. Because, bringing these two identity’s together make a clear image of who we are, with distinct capabilities.
Earlier I was showing my kids one of my very first YouTube videos, and they were making fun of me for how bad it was. Which, it definitely was bad.
But, I told them people don’t need to see perfect, they need to see you just as you are. There are enough people out there pretending to be perfect. Be the perfect version of your flawed self.
Be the perfect version of your flawed self.
T&S (MWW)
As I’m telling them this they stumble upon a comment, saying how inspired someone is to do their own video after watching mine.
Point, Dad.
The truth of the matter is, if I want to truly serve people I have to be willing to take a chance and possibly look stupid. We don’t serve others by being bullet proof. The “Hero” is the “Hero” because they jump in front of the bullet knowing they will most likely die and that is what saves “US” not, taking a bullet, but showing that life is more important than fear of death.
“The “Hero” is the “Hero” because they jump in front of the bullet knowing they will most likely die, and that is what saves “US”, not taking a bullet, but showing that life is more important than the fear of death.”
Thoughts and Such – (Matthew Whiteside)
We can spend our entire lives “straddling” the fence and never make it anywhere because we decided to never decide on a direction.
I relate to the first part of this chapter so entirely it is speaking directly to my greatest flaws.
Arrogance, indecision and pride.
“Those who presume themselves are not distinguished Those who praise themselves have no merit Those who boast about themselves do not last”
TTC- chp. 24 (Lin)
The Tao Te Ching, doesn’t tell us not to behave in this manner, instead it simply says, these things do not last, while the other stuff we mentioned about the Sage’s and the Master’s, that stuff is eternal.
So, there is the truth. What we do with the truth is completely up to us.
It does give a pretty damning depiction of the ways these behaviors are viewed by those following the Tao.
“Those with the Tao call such things leftover food or tumors They despise them Thus, those who possesses the Tao do not engage in them”
TTC – chp.24 (Lin)
Left over food makes me think of waste. So practicing these things can be seen as a waste.
A tumor can be described as an over abundance of useless or deadly growths on ones self. So, these things are dangerous.
So, followers of the Tao do not practice these things for that reason. It is like Day 12’s writing, The practitioners live in creation not in loss, thus practicing things that are finite is an empty game.
Well there you have it, another day another Tao Te Ching studied and expressed.
I really found great insights today simply from enjoying my day with my kids and all this stuff popped up throughout. Which, in many ways is living the Tao, it can’t be understood simply from a book it must be lived.
I am struck by an insight today. Studying chapter 23 of the Tao Te Ching, an insight hit me from a place of thinking I understand, to grasping what is being taught.
Shakespeare said, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Well Lao Tzu said, “Spare words; nature’s way.” (Addiss & Lombardo)
Nature only say’s what is needed and then it moves on. Nature holds no grudge, and is not trying to make a point. Be like the infinite intelligence of nature.
Violent winds do not blow all morning.
Sudden rain cannot pour all day. What causes these things?
Heaven and Earth.
TTC – Chp. 23 (Addiss & Lombardo)
We can find ourselves violently raging against one another. We can find ourselves suddenly in a down pour of emotion. But, as we know with nature these things pass. They always have and they always will.
“If heaven and Earth do not blow and pour for long How much less should humans?” (Addiss & Lombardo)
I understand this to mean, why hold on to a storm? Yes it happened, but are you really going to wear your raincoat for the rest of you life because of it?
In this chapter a beautiful realization came to me after these lines.
“Therefore in following Tao:
Those on the way become the way,
Those who gain become the gain,
Those who lose become the loss.
TTC- Chp. 23 ( Addiss & Lombardo)
To me this means, I get to choose.
How incredible is that? What more freedom could a person be looking for in life than the ability to choose their attitude in any circumstance.
Put another way. I can choose to live in creation, I can choose to live in gain, or I can choose to live in loss. Each one of these things welcomes me with open arms.
I spent a lot of my life choosing to live in the loss. Meaning, I focused solely on what I believed was unjustly done to me. I focused on what I could have had instead of what I did have.
After choosing sobriety almost three years ago now, I realize this choice does not stop at not drinking. It extends to every moment.
This is the beauty of the teaching of the Tao. To be one with the Tao, we can choose to live in creation in this moment, no matter what the circumstances.
Let’s say that, you lost your job and money is tight right now. One could sit and say I wish this wasn’t so, look at what is being taken from me. Or we can choose creation and see that when something we were holding on to leaves our grasp it makes way for something brand new and if we can live in the Tao we can manifest the creation we would like to see.
Or we can live in the gainfulness of all the extra free time we have.
I use the job example because that is my current situation, not that I lost the job, but that I gave up the job to willfully create more space for a new creation to be born and trust the loving nature of the Tao.
See, Alan Watt’s said something I love. He said, and I’m paraphrasing, “We sit in meditation and we are faced with the whole of creation and then we ask it for a promotion at work or a new car. How ridiculous. (I hear his smokers chuckle full of joy). To ask all of creation for something so small. Why not sit with Creation and allow it to give you what it want’s, can you even imagine what might come your way?”
This is the meaning of chapter 23, in my opinion. Pain and difficulty do not last, choose what reality you want to live in: Creation, gain, or loss.
What an exciting revelation.
“All within Tao:
The wayfarer, welcome upon the way,
Those who gain, welcome within gain,
Those who lose, welcome within loss.
Without trust in this
There is no trust at all.
TTC- Chp. 23 (Addiss & Lombardo)
Chilling isn’t it?
The bible has a similar verse: “For whoever has, to him more will be given and he will have abundance; but whoever does not have, even what he has will be taken away from him.” NKJV (Matthew 13;12)
Isn’t that wild, two totally different text in terms of region, religion, and beliefs, yet they mirror this truth of reality.
The truth is, You Choose. And realize also, there is no wrong choice and no one to judge you for your choice. The choice is yours alone because you are the only one that has to live with and in that choice.
It’s ok to take off the rain coat, the sun is out but only if you choose to see it.
What does this refer to, some sort of miracle healing practice? Those with out legs, will walk again? Maybe, or maybe it means that, like a person who looses one sense, other senses become stronger.
Another translation of this is, “yield and reman whole…” TTC- Chp. 22 (Derek Lin)
I see this as the 1st law of thermodynamics. Energy is neither created or destroyed, it can only be transformed.
Let’s take a river, imagine a massive river flowing down to the ocean, until suddenly a massive mountain blocks it’s path. Oh no.! What will “River” do?
The river, like the Sage’s mentioned in the Tao Te Ching, yields.
We wonder then, how ever will the river make it to the ocean? Let us refer back to the 1st law of Thermodynamics, “Energy is neither created or destroyed, it can only be transformed.”
So, the river sits and waits. Suddenly, it begins to turn to vapor from the heat in the air and as we all know, heat rises. The vapor makes its way to the clouds, which just so happen to be atop this majestic mountain.
Well, damn it – if it ain’t cold as all get out on that dang mountain, and so it snows. The water vapor crystalizes to form ice and snow, laying heavy on the mountain. Well, some time passes, weeks even, until the sun begins to melt that ice and as the snow turns to water again it goes flying down that mountain to be reunited with it’s “River” self on the other side.
The amazing thing is that the water only had to wait and be transformed. What effort or energy was lost by the water.
Like the river, by yielding and being transformed we become whole.
“Crooked becomes whole, Hollow becomes full,
Worn becomes new, Little becomes more,
Much becomes delusion.”
TTC- Chp. 22 (Addiss & Lombardo)
The river or water for that matter is such an apt metaphor for this chapter and also for the way of the Sage (Master).
A river bends, yet there is no question its target. The empty space is filled up. Go look at that ditch in your back yard after it rains.
We are constantly being replenished, like the water replaces it self. We must be worn out to be replenished.
The text also gives light to what true humility is. There is no mistaking this in my mind.
The low places become filled. Being humble is remaining in a place to receive as the ocean does. The ocean is the place where all water goes, because it is the lowest place. But, how grand is the ocean? I mean look at all the metaphor’s about it for God’s sake.
When I have many choices in life, as we all seem to have now.
I mean, I just want to buy a bottle of water, but there are hundreds of different types of bottled water all claiming to be the best. If I spend to much time deciding, I could end up dead from dehydration.
The delusion is that the water is really any different. Any bottle of water will do when you are thirsty.
It is as the river flows, there are many paths to the sea if it splits it self a million different ways it will still go where it was always going. Do not be deluded by all the different options and get stuck. Keep moving, we are all going to the same place.
“Therefore Sages cling to the One, and take care of this world;
Do not display themselves, and therefore shine;
Do not assert themselves, and therefore stand out;
Do not praise themselves, and therefore succeed;
Are not complacent, and therefore endure;
Do not control, and therefore no one under heaven can contend with them.
TTC – Chp. 22 ( Addiss & Lombardo)
The Sage’s live as if they were living water. They move and act in ways that naturally reflect the way a river moves.
They are not trying to show off but they are shining stars. They are not complacent always transforming for the moment they are in.
They seek no praise and all people can not help but praise them.
It is such an interesting paradox to the way we, at least in America, have been raised. We are like a multitude of Ricky Bobby’s from Talladega Nights, “If you ain’t first, your last.”
However, the Tao Te Ching shows in so many ways that one must be last to be first.
I feel this as great medicine for the disease of more that holds our world ever tighter.
We want more things, more love, more attention, and in so many ways we have gotten all that we want and more. The more that it continues to happen, the more people begin to realize the hollowness of more.
The Sage’s knew this. They understood the true nature of things, and that to have anything worth having we must be willing to let go of it all.
As the river does not give only the amount it wishes to those in need. It gives freely and is constantly replenished over and over again.
Can we give freely of ourselves? Can we be transformed by yielding and not losing our way? Can we bend and remain straight?
The practice if held onto as we currently are, is impossible, but if we are like Bruce Lee said, “Be like water, my friend…” Life can be easy and free.
I am seeing more and more that the Tao Te Ching is a text to free the people and to help anyone live an incredible life.
The River is showing us the way.
“The old saying, crippled becomes whole, is not empty words.
I am using multiple translations of the Tao Te Ching in this study and one thing is certain, chapter 21 is like using water vapor to quench thirst after a marathon.
“Great Te appears, flowing from Tao. Tao in action- only vague and intangible.”
TTC-Chp.21 version translated by Stephen Addiss & Stanley Lombard
The version by Addiss and Lombard is actually the only version I have found thus far that refers to Te as an entity in the Tao.
What I have learned of “Te” is that it is a word that most closely would mean, “the authentic nature of something.” I have pieced that together from multiple sources as I have come to understand it.
The other translation by Derek Lin takes the same sentence and says, “The appearance of great virtue follows only the Tao. The Tao, as a thing seems indistinct, seems unclear.” Chp. 21
Multiple times in this chapter, the words vague, indistinct, unclear, and intangible appear in the description of the Tao.
Here is my take on this after many days spent in, what the Hellville.
I imagine a blank sheet of paper, the color of the paper is meaningless, and it could actually be any surface at all. I then imagine from this surface, images start to emerge.
Lets say a pear tree. This pear tree comes to life on this surface and begins to blossom and produce its delicious fruits, full of color and life.
The surface and even the image are the Tao. They are essence, intangible, vague things. If you were a person with no memory of what a pear tree is you would see only shape and color.
This is Tao, it is potential and essence.
“Intangible-Vague. Within it are images. Vague-intangible. Within it are entities. Shadowy-obscure. Within it there is life, Life so real that within it there is trust.”
TTC- Chp 21. Addiss & Lombardo
The pear tree, to the unknown observer, has no purpose and has no true understanding, but that pear tree has its very own authentic nature, unique and precise to it and it alone.
One would say it had its very own genius way of being. This is Te.
Chapter 21, to me embodies the mystery of the existence of all things, and Lao Tzu gives such a beautiful depiction of that mystery with such uncertainty in their poetic writing.
The quoted text is from what I have found to be the most natural depiction of the original Chinese.
To speak of trust in the absolute unknown of the Tao is such a beautiful way of describing our relationship with this material world.
We have no way of truly knowing how we came to be; even the surface that we are created on (The Univerese) is a mystery to us, yet all that it holds is in itself our surest way of knowing the mystery. Of knowing that there is something behind it all.
I remember when I was a kid, maybe in early high school, I would get into conversations with friends about God, and the question would come up, “If God created us, who created God?” Everyone would stop, mind blown, and think for a moment.
This is the uncertainty that we all deal with every day in every moment. What I believe this chapter is pointing to is that, yes, we are all in wonder of what created any of this, but if you want to get close to understanding the mystery, simply look at the nature of things.
Look at the genius of the tree; no one or thing can be a tree, like a tree can be a tree; I can trust that. I can feel secure in that.
“From the Beginning its name is not lost, but reappears through multiple origins. How do I know these origins?
Like this.
TTC-Chp. 21 Addis & Lombardo
When Lao Tzu ends this chapter by saying, “Like this,” I believe he was pointing at himself. He knows the origin of things by going inward.
All any of us must do is go inward, close off our senses, and experience the creation of the myriad things inside of us. From where do those originate?
One beautiful explanation given for this chapter is that we are not beings that have suddenly become self-aware of creation, but that we are consciousness that learned to manifest in this reality. (Paraphrasing Derek Lin here)
The point of all of this is to get us closer to the source, to wake us up, in a sense. To know the source of all things is to know one’s self.
To live the Tao is to live in our “Te” way (Authentic nature).
I ask myself regularly, am I listening to my source or my fear? Many times I act in a way that is driven by an irrational fear that takes me away from the natural way I am meant to be.
We are meant to be in harmony with all things, and the only time we are not is when we are not in harmony with ourselves.
To reach harmony with myself, I must allow the natural way I am to flourish and the irrational way I have been to fall away.
This is part of living the Tao, and it is hard as hell at times. Especially when I try and do it. If I am of no mind, it just happens. I do not react in ways that are someone whose depth goes all the way to the root of creation.
Ask yourself, how would you react to someone treating you badly if you had a deep connection to all that is and will be? In our depths, we are all that will ever be and ever has been.
We are eternity in action. We have created for ourselves a game as real as one could make it to separate ourselves from this truth, and yet we are still pulled and called to it.
We still have a sense of IT because we are IT. There is no getting away from IT, no matter how complicated we make our lives.
This is why so many people run so fast in life, doing this and that as a distraction from what we really are. Because if we knew truly what we are, there would be no more need for any of this. We would cease to need to make something of ourselves.
We are already ourselves, and there is nothing more to make. To connect with this source is to truly free ones self from all that holds us back. In pulling back, we see that we created the game, the rules, and the difficulty level.
Once we see this, we can run the game however we see fit.
There are still parts of me that hold on to seeing the world as something to overcome because my ego still needs to feel powerful, and that’s ok because I am here for my ego; it is actually the only reason I am here. It is “Te,” and it is authentically me in motion.
“I” as a source has created an ego to live in this manifested reality. It is my avatar, if you will, to jump over barrels and save the day from the evil Donkey Kong.
As we get closer to this understanding, more levels of delusion will pop up to distract us because as the avatar may be having a tough time jumping over all the barrels, the creator “I” see it as a fun game.
So to enjoy the game, connect to Source, to Self, to I AM, and enjoy the game while you are here, make it what you will.
It is the fruit of our uncertainty.
Did anyone else get that from reading Chapter 21? Haha
Happy Day
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I don’t know what it is about Monday (even if you are reading this on a different day) but I am full of anxiety. And, if I know anything about the human condition, its that if I am feeling a certain way, it is a guarantee that there are a bunch of other people feeling the exact same way.
So, let’s talk about it and let’s get through it together.
The insecurity of another week is here. Whether that means, facing a week full of a job you hate.
Dealing with people or situations that may be difficult.
Facing the unavoidable financial difficulties coming your way.
Feeling alone and fearing that you may not be able to take the loneliness much longer.
The number of reasons for the anxiety we feel can be numerous. That in itself can feel overwhelming and as much as I want to tell you it will get easier, I can not guarantee that.
What I will guarantee is that if you follow these steps you will feel better.
The anxiety I am facing stems from an unknown future, which in reality is all we are ever facing as none of us are fortune tellers, as far as I know.
What I do know is how to deal with anxiety when it starts to become to much.
Step 1-Community
You are not alone in this and you never have been. A lot of times we can feel so caught up in our own fear that we forget that we are surrounded by people that care about us and want to help us, even if we do not want their help.
My number one tip for dealing with anxiety and overwhelm is talking to someone. Preferably someone I love and trust, but if you don’t feel that you have that in your life, guess what you get to make a friend today.
Talking to another person releases the feeling that we are taking on a seemingly overwhelming task all by our selves. Another benefit of talking to other people is that if your lucky you will talk to a funny person and they will make you giggle and laugh until the anxiety is swallowed whole in your joy.
*If you really want to feel better join a support group, I have and it makes the load so much easier to carry.
“Anything is possible when you have the right people there to support you.”
Misty Copeland
Step 2-Honesty
Get honest with yourself, are you tired, or hungry? If so, take a nap and have a sandwich.
This may sound like a silly kindergarten solution but we have to remember, almost everything we ever needed to know we learned in kindergarten. Also, trying to deal with any problem when you are hungry or tired can make a mountain out of any mole hill.
It may not feel like you have time to rest but trust me, resting and eating will change your world. Just ask the Buddha, he was fat and happy a.k.a. enlightened and all he did was nap and eat (I understand that I may be simplifying what the Buddha was doing but also, maybe not).
“Honesty is often very hard. The truth is often painful. But the freedom it can bring is worth the trying.”
Fred Rogers
Step 3- Perspective
Think about a week ago, or a month ago, or a year ago and the problems you were facing then. Then when you remember that you can barely recall any of the problems you had to face in your past, remember that soon this week will be a month from now, and you won’t be able to remember how worried you were then either. (This sentence may seem confusing, but read it again. It’s super good).
Or, you will and you will see that you made it through something you had no idea you would make it through. When you realize you have been through some tough crap before and you are still here actually stronger, smarter, more beautiful and cooler than ever, you will feel a bolt of empowered lightening shoot through you.
See our past can be used for good, doesn’t always have to be used for beating ourselves up.
“If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”
Dr. Wayne Dyer
Step 4-The Eternal Now
Go for a walk, or a roll or a sit in nature. Spend time breathing deep. In this moment you are safe. You are in the eternal moment known as Now. In this Now all potential exist, there is no past, no future, no bills and no stupid people that drive BMW’s always pulling out in front of you. It’s just you as you have always been, a beautiful expression of the Universe’s love. Be Love, receive the love that is yours and will always be yours.
You are “IT” baby, and you are free right now.
“Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.”
Charles Spurgeon
I hope this was helpful. If it was not helpful to you, I want you to know that it was sincerely helpful for me to write about.
Which, if I am being honest is all I really care about. I hope you care about yourself the same way.
With love and free from anxiety, you got this.
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“Gold and jade fill up the room, no one is able to protect them. Wealth and position bring arrogance, and leave disasters upon oneself?”
Tao Te Ching- Chp. 9
This passage has been sitting on me all day. I am holding on desperately to the things in my life that I treasure. Like Lao Tzu writes, “no one is able to protect them.”
So much of the Tao Te Ching, is teaching me of the passing of all things. The letting go of self attachment that keeps us stuck and also gets us lost in suffering. The suffering created by holding on to things not meant to last.
I am in a precarious place in my life as I sit in my room and write, I am surrounded by so many incredible treasures that I worked so hard to acquire knowing that at any moment they could be taken away. It is why we have locks on all our doors. It is why we have to safe guard our bank accounts and credit cards.
These treasures that we have, this work that we possess is going to be gone and the harder I hold on to it the more likely I make that a reality.
The truth is, holding on to material wealth and possessions is exhausting and it cost me more than it truly gives me. So, why do I hold on then. For status? For comfort? Why not give it all away? Why not be done with that which imprisons me?
I sit here chained to all that I have, because I belong to it.
“Cut open doors and windows to create a room, in its emptiness, there is the function of a room. Therefore, that which exists is used to create benefit. That which is empty is used to create functionality.”
Tao Te Ching – Chp. 11
These things that surround me benefit me only as long as I have space for them. The time has come to make space for something new. To open myself to the reality of my own functionality.
To be a space for that which I truly treasure, not worldly treasures that consume and have no deeper benefit. But, become the place of functionality that lends it self as a channel for the source of things.
These things that I have treasured, will be taken one way or another. They will pass, I can let them go willingly or I can hang on, kicking and screaming, wasting what would be useful time allowing something more to take its place.
“So one who values the self as the world can be given the world. One who loves the self as the world can be entrusted with the world.”
Tao Te Ching – Chp. 13
If I have no value for myself out side of that which I possess I am not fit to have anything. If I can not love myself with out attaching to some worldly thing to do so I can not be trusted to care for anything.
Be still here first. Be with me first. Love and honor that which I am first and all else will be given in accordance with this Law of nature. If I treasure my treasure more than myself than it creates thieves and greed by those that want it.
I must realize I am the source of all these things in my life. With out me here they do not exist and would never exist. Remember that you are the source of all the treasure in your life.
That the things that surround you, no matter how expensive and beautiful would not be there with out you. You are the room, the space for them. We are the emptiness.
One can not steal what is not capable of possessing. Therefore do not be possessed by things out side of you. Let go of everything and make room to be filled.
All that exists, exists with in us. Let go and return again to source.
To be like the Tao we must let go.
“The Tao is empty, when utilized, it is not filled up. So deep! It seems to be the source of all things.”
Tao Te Ching – Chp. 4
I don’t know how else to say this, but in writing this, there is a great pain inside of me. This process hurts on a level I was not prepared for. I feel sick, I feel tired, I feel like I am purging something inside of me that has existed for a long time and is not willing to come out.
However, I will continue, because I choose to.
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“Attain the ultimate emptiness, hold on to the truest tranquility. The myriad things are all active, I therefore watch their return.”
Tao Te Ching – Chp. 16
The world that we live in is a natural world, full of natural beauty and natural processes. From the tree’s blossoms, to the way a smart phone lights up after you turn it on.
Wait, a smart phone is anything but natural, right?
I believe it is all apart of the way the natural world works, and speaks through all of us. It behaves in the same way as any other natural thing.
It has times of power and flourishing and then needs to connect to its source to recharge. We are all in the same way living in this cycle.
The Tao Te Ching, in reference to all “myriad” things is of course speaking of us. All things are active for a time and we watch as they return to inactivity.
“Everything flourishes; each returns to its root. Returning to the root is called Tranquility.”
Tao Te Ching- Chp. 16
It is the beauty of the natural way that all things flourish and have their time. As all things in the natural world do. We as humans are the only species to spend time in active defiance to this natural way. Using any and all methods to undermine and rebel against this cycle.
It is interesting, to see the cycle from this perspective of nature. I do not spend time angry with the trees for loosing their leaves during winter and drawing their seed back to the root to preserve their own life. In fact I take joy in watching these things change.
Yet, in my own life I can be so hard and obstinate about my own drawing into source. I become angry with myself that I can not remain flourishing and in the spotlight for ever as if there were something wrong with me.
This denial of our own natural cycles can be seen in almost all of us. We have disrupted and cultivated an unnatural way of being so that we can in essence have more of the feeling of connection that we desire.
Yet, as Lao Tzu, seems to state in the Tao Te Ching, we are all only searching for a return to our own source.
“Tranquility is called returning to one’s nature. Returning to one’s nature is called constancy, knowing constancy is called clarity.”
Tao Te Ching- Chp. 16
Why then do we not accept our own cycle? We act as if an apple tree on a deadline. Can you imagine, an apple tree afraid that it wouldn’t produce 500 apples by Thursday? Or that if it was not constantly appling, other trees would hate it or think it no good? What if it was afraid that if it did not constantly produce apples, it would stop being given the resources it needed for its own survival?
This example I hope paints the picture for you of our disconnection from natural way of things.
We are all natural beings, with natural cycles. To be at odds with this has caused me so much suffering in my life. To think that all that was necessary was to accept my flourishing and accept my returning to the root or source as the natural way of things.
A flower does not bloom because it wants to be beautiful, a flower blooms because it has spent time with the source of all things and that energy and beauty radiates through what we call a flower.
“Not knowing constancy, one recklessly causes trouble. Knowing constancy is acceptance, acceptance is impartiality. Impartiality is sovereign. Sovereign is Heaven. Heaven is Tao.”
Tao Te Ching – Chp. 16
Being at peace with what we are and knowing that there is a time for us to flourish and a time for us to withdraw is the natural cycle of all things. Living in the Tao is part of unlearning the processes of the unnatural world and remembering the way of the natural.
If you are tired, rest. If you are hungry, eat. If you need time to yourself, take it. If you feel life has lost it’s flavor maybe it is time to reconnect to the root of things and recharge. Our phones do it, the trees do it, everything in life does it, only we as humans fight this.
The Tao Te Ching, is starting to make more sense to me, the more and more I study it and allow all the other things to fall away.
Birth. Death. Rebirth.
Happy Day.
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“The named is the mother of myriad things. Thus, constantly without desire, one observes its essence. Constantly with desire, one observes its manifestation.”
Tao Te Ching – Chp. 1
There have been many a mystery in my life. Mystery’s such as, why is the sky blue? Why do some people grow really tall and others, not so much? And of course, why did the chicken cross the road?
To all these mystery’s the answer’s eventually came. The sky is blue because that is the only color crayon I had. Some people are really tall because they got extra long bones. And chickens cross the road because they work across the street.
But, the great mystery spoken of in the Tao, in the opening chapter is the great mystery and I believe I know why.
“The two emerge together but differ in name. The unity is said to be the mystery. Mystery of mysteries, the door to all wonders.”
Tao Te Ching – Chp. 1
It was something that came to me as I was working out one day about a year ago. I was alone in my room putting in work, when the idea of the double slit experiment popped into my brain. The thought of a wave and a particle existing simultaneously, a particle when the wave is observed a wave when it is not observed.
Then I began to think of myself alone in that room, no one there to observe me, yet I was much more particle than wave, as I knew myself to be. But for anyone that knew of me and did not know what I was doing in that moment a wave of potential existed in their own consciousness.
I could be doing anything, a limitless number of things. Yet, I wasn’t I was doing one thing, exercising. And it hit me, this is what the double slit experiment is monitoring. At any moment we are both a particle and a wave dependent completely on whose consciousness is in observance.
I know very exciting. Here is how it relates to the Tao. “Constantly without desire, one observes its essence.” To be without desire allows an infinite potential of possibilities to be true. When we do not desire we allow the Universe, the people in our lives to make real any potential It, they, so choose. We can live in a Universe of infinite potential in this way.
“Constantly with desire, one observes its manifestations.” When we want something, the thing or person or situation we want goes from being a potentiality and becomes a true reality. We observe what we want with our minds and in the realm of the quantum, the wave transforms to a particle. This is also basic law of attraction stuff here.
No desire = essence/wave/potential
Desire = manifestation/particle/fixed potential
The great Mystery then- “The unity is said to be the mystery. Mystery of mysteries, the door to all wonders.”
The great mystery is that we all have free choice, we are all in some way desiring or not desiring something about something, or someone or some situation and in so creating a mysterious world that has no right or wrong, yes or no, good or evil. Only that which we decide to make so.
We each get to decide which wave we make a particle. Do we want manifestation, or do we want essence.
When we live in the past we fix our minds on the manifestations that no longer exist yet we fix them in a way that we find either pleasing or non pleasing. This is where we find depression or purpose for our lives. How do we fix the past manifestations?
When we live in the future we do the same thing, only this time our future manifestations have a taste of the way we create our past. We are still dealing with fixed potentials, and to do so is to create a life we are used to living over and over again.
The trick here then and what I gain from this passage in the Tao is to live here in the now. Live fully with the essence of what could be, devoid of past and future manifestations to allow that which is to be made “particle” in your life the most new and exciting thing.
To do this is also part of the mystery, we would all need amnesia and no imagination to live in this way, it seems. But, can you imagine, being fully at peace and in love with all that is observed by you in every moment as if it were the first and only time you would ever see it.
That to me feels like that most beautiful way to live. To be again like a child and allow all that is to be.
I hope this was all very confusing for you. As it was about the Mystery of mystery’s and I think I knocked it out of the park.
Happy Day.
The Tao that can be spoken is not the eternal Tao.”
Tao Te Ching -Chp. 1
Speak of this to no one.
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Seeking Purpose Today 